


don't stand (so close to me)

by faitaccompli



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Death, F/M, Hate Sex, Idiots, Not Beta Read, Only One Bed, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Rey (Star Wars), Rey is Ben's assistant, Reylo - Freeform, Sexual Tension, TW - blood and injury, They literally make out chaper one, Witness Protection, he isn't nice to her because she's cute basically, i tagged this with descriptions of violence bc of blood, i'll just let you know now, my man is a plot device, probably a slow burn, rip mitaka, sorry bout that, what an idiot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:01:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25118821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faitaccompli/pseuds/faitaccompli
Summary: Based on this prompt from @reylo_prompts on Twitter!"Rey and her insufferable boss Ben accidentally saw the wrong thing and now they are in Witness protection pretending to be newlyweds."Enjoy!!
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 18
Kudos: 128
Collections: Reylo Prompt Fills (@reylo_prompts)





	1. Chapter One

Rey stood in the corner of the room sipping her fruity cocktail and glaring at the large mass of a man that walked through the crowd. He was all small smiles and perfectly groomed hair. He carried a drink in his hand that was heavy with condensation, the glass looked impossibly small in his hands. 

She scowled at him because she hated this mask that he put on for other people when he was such a  _ jerk  _ to her. Constantly griping at her because she didn’t do something right when it was almost never her fault, having a stupidly complex coffee order that she always had to pick up, and all the while being too attractive for his own good. God damn it, why couldn’t he be ugly? 

Watching him mingle around the company Christmas party and work his charm on everyone there igniting something in her. She wanted to punch him in the face and kiss him at the same time. 

“Why do you look like that?” Finn, a man that worked on the same floor as she did with Ben sidled up to her and gave her a confused look. 

“Look like what?” Rey asked as she straightened up, trying to make her face neutral once more. 

Finn sipped his drink and gave her a bit of side eye, “Obviously not the scowl that was one hundred percent directed towards your boss.” He laughed and Rey elbowed him lightly. She and Finn had become friends over the year or so that she had worked at Resistance Systems. He was a software developer and he was glad that Ben did not know he existed. Rey had no choice but to interact with Ben and complained to Finn about it pretty much every time they saw each other. 

“He’s just so frustrating!” Rey grits out through clenched teeth and Finn laughs again. 

“I think you mean hot.” He says and takes a sip of his drink and Rey vehemently shakes her head. 

“Absolutely not. He is quite possibly the worst,” Rey throws back the rest of her drink and takes a few steps away from Finn, her goal to head to the bathroom, “I need to excuse myself.” She says politely and turns away. Finn gives her a small wave and goes back to looking out over the room. 

Rey weaves through people and begins to look around the beautifully decorated room. There were lights strung from the ceiling and gold accents everywhere from the tables and chairs to bouquets of balloons about the room. It was truly a sparkly sight. The gold made the entire event seem warm and inviting and when she didn’t have to stare at Ben Solo, it was even nicer. 

She finds the bathroom and quickly relieves herself and washes her hands. Her hair is pulled up into an intricate updo and she tucks in a few fly aways before she opens the door to exit the room. Whenever she started to walk out she was met with a broad expanse of chest waiting at the door. She looked up to see Ben, scowling down at her. 

“Excuse me, Mr. Solo.” She said and expected him to move, but he stayed firm where he was standing. She tried to slip past him and down the hallway, but when she did he turned towards him. Obviously he needed to say something. 

“Ms. Johnson. I need to speak with you.” He says, his voice dark but it seemed as if he might have had a few drinks of his own tonight. 

“Okay, shoot.” She says, twirling around to meet his gaze and trying her absolute hardest not to frown. 

“I saw you watching me. Frowning.” He says and she gulps. Damn it. She’d been caught. 

“I wasn’t watching you. That’s just my face.” She says, crossing her arms and Ben lets out a throaty laugh. 

“You are a bad liar,” He says and takes a step closer to her, “I would appreciate it if you could show me more respect, Ms. Johnson.” 

“All due  _ respect _ , Mr. Solo, but I don’t have time for this right now. Goodnight.” She says, turning on her heels, but she hears his heavy footsteps following behind her. She rushes to the elevator and clicks the button, he is stopped by a patron of the event a few steps behind her. She needed to leave this party as soon as possible. Now was not the best time to confront Ben Solo about how much of a dick he was to her, not while she had alcohol running through her veins. 

Finally, the elevator dinged and she stepped inside, frantically pushing the button for the ground floor. Just as the doors were about to slide shut, a large arm thrust itself through the small gap and the doors slowly slid back open. Ben walked through the doors silently and turned to face the doors as the elevator made its way down. 

“All I do is show you respect, Mr. Solo.” Rey says to break the silence and she immediately regrets it. He turns to her, his eyes angry. She  _ knows  _ that she is a good employee. She really has no idea where this is coming from. A few dirty glances at a Christmas party and he is this enraged? 

“Debatable.” He laughs and Rey can definitely tell he has had a few drinks at this point. Perhaps this was just building up from how kind he had to be to everyone all night, and Rey just happened to be the person he wanted to take it out on. 

“I don’t know what you mean. I am there for you nearly ten hours a day, adhere to every ridiculous request you have, and I am never anything but kind! You on the other hand-” She turns towards him and points a finger into his chest, she is frustrated now. This man had  _ no _ right to tell her to give him more respect. She was doing her job perfectly fine, thank you very much, “-are rude. Demanding. Unkind.” She poked him in the chest with every period. She knew she had probably crossed a line, but no job was worth this. Even if her boss was insanely hot. God, he was  _ frustrating.  _

He is standing there, looking at her, his nostrils flared when the elevator comes to a stop. She stomped out defiantly, and a little dramatically, taking broad steps through the lobby of the building and out into the cold December air. It wasn’t quite snowing, but Rey could almost taste the precipitation. She looked around frantically, the sidewalk was nearly empty. 

“Listen, Mr. Solo,” she grit out his name with a significant amount of venom, “I work hard for you. Harder than you deserve, that’s for sure. I don’t want to lose my job, but asking me for more respect?” She scoffs and walks around the corner and into an alleyway. It was dark and wet, but if she could just walk through, she could catch a taxi on the other side of it. 

Ben is only steps behind her, why is he following her if he isn't going to say anything?  _ Ugh. _

She whirls around to face him and he is a bit closer than she anticipated, she looks up and he still looks angry.    
  
“What? What do you want? Why are you following me if you aren’t even going to say anything!” She yells at him. She didn’t even do anything. Was he really reacting like this over a few frowns from across the room? “Say something!” 

Then he lunges forward, Rey’s eyes go wide for a moment. Is she about to become a stereotype? Why did she come into this alley! 

But Ben grabs her face in his large hands and presses his lips to hers.  _ What the fuck?  _ He kisses her roughly and it only takes a moment for her to kiss him back. What was she doing? She didn’t really know. This was stupid. Beyond stupid, but damn if the man didn’t have great lips. He presses her back against the brick wall and she slips her arms around his waist, his hands still planted firmly on her face. He licks her bottom lip with his tongue and she opens her mouth to deepen the kiss. 

He pulls away for a moment and begins to trail kisses down the column of her throat. Her dress was rather low cut and she had neglected to grab her coat from the rack when she made her exit, so he had full access to her collarbones and shoulders. 

“You are such an asshole.” She says, her voice breathy and Ben lets out a gravelly laugh. 

“I know.” He says as he sucks what will likely be a small bruise into the soft skin on her neck. She can’t help but let out a small moan and Ben grabs her hips and holds on to them tightly. The electricity between them was undeniable. Maybe they had just been building up to this the whole time she had worked for him. He made his way back to her mouth and they kissed more, she was glad they were in a public place or else this would probably have gone downhill very fast. 

A particularly cold gust of wind blew down the alley and Rey wretched herself away from Ben. He took a step back and looked down at her. His face was red and his lips swollen. Somewhere along the way she had mussed up his hair and it was now lumpy in weird places. She frowned at him, figuring she looked just as debauched. 

“God, I fucking hate you.” She said and he gave her a wry smile. 

“Obviously you don’t, Rey.” He quips and she shoves him further away, starting to walk down the alley the opposite direction. He follows quickly, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to face him, his mouth hangs open as if he is going to say something, his eyes a little bit softer than before. 

Suddenly, there is a loud bang behind them. A metal door swings open and hits the brick wall from the opposite building in the alley. A man is thrown out the now open door and lands on the concrete in the alley. He is beaten and bruised, blood dripping from his mouth and out of a large gash above his eyes. 

Rey’s mouth falls open and Ben pulls her behind a trash can and she ducks down as far as she can, Ben drooped over her. Almost shielding her from whatever is going on. It was an awkward position, but Rey was frozen in fear whenever she heard footsteps slowly walk out the door. 

“Ah, Mitaka. Mitaka. Mitaka,” An old and rough voice said and the man that Rey guessed was the one on the floor groaned, “I thought you were loyal to me, friend. It seems that I was sadly mistaken.” 

“I was never your friend, Snoke” The man, Mitaka, says and it sounds like he spits a bit of blood out of his mouth and towards the older sounding man, who she assumed was Snoke. Rey tried to keep quiet and steady her breathing. She looked up at Ben, and their eyes met. His were glassy and firm. 

“Hold him up,” The older man said and more footsteps walked across the alley and Mitaka groaned as they hoisted him up, “Mitaka, you know why I have to do this,” A gun cocks and the bloodied man begins to whimper. 

“Please, no! I have a family, a child-” a gunshot rings out and there is a sound of something heavy dropping to the concrete below. Rey lets out a small gasp, tears springing from her eyes and she clasps her hand over her mouth. 

“What the  _ fuck _ was that?” The older man grit out and suddenly Ben was pulled from his place on top of her and she saw the look of panic in his eyes. Another man came into view and strong hands quickly closed around her shoulders, forcing her from her spot on the ground and up. She was pushed down onto her knees and she finally looked up and assessed the situation. 

A man laid dead on the ground, his face in the concrete and a pool of blood already surrounding him. Two large men stood behind her and Ben, with what she assumed were guns pointed towards them so they would not move. A man dressed in a long black coat stood in front of them, Rey could hardly see his face. While they were hidden behind the trash can, a car had pulled into the alley and the headlights made the older man essentially a silhouette. 

“What do we have here?” He said, clicking his tongue and taking a step closer so that Rey could almost see his face. He had a short beard that was salt and pepper colored and deep set eyes, his face covered in wrinkles. He leaned down and took her chin in his hand, pressing in the hollow of her cheeks with his thumb and pointer finger. 

“Don’t touch her.” Ben said, but kept his hands behind his back. 

“What will you do about it, Solo?” The man asked, and Rey wanted to look at him. This man knew his name? What was going on. She could feel the silent tears falling down her face and Snoke clicked his tongue. 

“Don’t cry, young one. I’m sorry that you had to see this today,” He wiped a tear from her cheek and let go of her face. He turned to Ben and gave him a scowl. Snoke turned around and looked down at the dead man, “Kill them.” 

She heard the sound of the guns clicking and felt the cold metal on the base of her skull. She let out a quiet whimper and squeezed her eyes shut. Was this really how she was going to die? Time started to move very slow, she looked over at Ben who also had tears running down his face. She watched one trickle down and she realized that she was going to die with him. A man she was certain she hated. 

Time speeds up and Rey hears the siren of a police car. She looks up and sees the blue and red lights reflecting on the brick from behind her. Snoke shouts something at his men and all three of them quickly move past them and pile into the car that had been sitting in the alleyway. 

It was over just as quickly as it started. Rey looked around. She was in shock, her mouth fell open but no sound came out. She fell forward from her knees and collapsed onto the ground. 

It was all a blur, there were officers swarming around her, a light shining in her eyes as she laid there on the ground. Whenever she was finally able to stand, someone walked her over and she sat on the edge of an ambulance with a rough blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It felt like something that happens in a movie. Not in real life. 

She watched a few EMTs walk by, wheeling a body bag on a stretcher and she felt like she might lose the contents of her stomach. This  _ was  _ real. This  _ was _ happening to her. To Ben. To the man she didn’t even know. Mitaka. 

“Rey Johnson?” A voice said and she looked up from where she was boring a hole in the concrete with her eyes. A young woman stood in front of her. She had dark brown hair and round glasses. She was wearing a smart looking jacket and slacks. Obviously not a normal police officer, “I’m Jessika Pava, detective with the NYPD. Do you think you can walk? We’re gonna get you in a patrol car and give you a ride down to the precinct.” 

“Am I under arrest?” Rey asked, her voice shaky and weak. 

“No, nothing like that. We know what you have been through is scary. We just have to ask you some questions and take the right steps to ensure your safety.” Jessika says and Rey nods, standing up from her seat on the edge of the ambulance. Jessika leads her to a patrol car and opens the door for her. Rey sits inside and looks out the window as they speed through the streets. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

  
  


The police precinct was cold and dark. It was pretty late at night, so no light came through what few windows were in the building.

Rey sat in a small room alone. There was a small table where an untouched glass of water sat. She hugged her knees and tucked her face down so that it was dark and she couldn’t see anything. She only looked up whenever the door to the room opened and in walked Ben Solo. She scowled at him and set her chin on her knee, looking at the corner of the room instead of at his face. Jessika followed behind him. 

“None of this would have happened if not for you.” She said quietly and Ben almost laughed. It was more of a throaty grunt, but it still made her angry. 

“If I hadn't been there, he would have killed you on the spot.” 

“Bullshit. If you hadn’t been there, I would have been gone before it happened!” 

“You weren’t complaining about me being there a few moments before.” Ben scoffed and Rey looked at him then. 

“Are you serious?  _ That  _ is what you want to talk about right now? Not the  _ literal murder  _ that we witnessed?” She moved her feet to the ground and planted her elbows on the table. Reaching for the glass of water and taking a long drink. 

“Both of you, do me a favor and shut up,” Jessika said and motioned for Ben to sit at the table next to Rey, “It’s been a long night for everyone. I am going to need you to listen very closely, okay?”    
  


They look at each other briefly and then back to her, nodding their heads, “From what you have both told us, we believe what you witnessed was a crime by notorious mob leader Leonard Snoke.” Rey had heard the name before. That was why it had seemed just a little bit familiar to her before. Snoke was the leader of the biggest mob presence in the city. She had seen him on the news, constantly slipping away from punishments. She didn’t know how he did it, but the point was that he was illustrious. 

“Snoke has a way of slipping through our fingers and we know that he saw your faces, so it’s not safe for you both to be here anymore. At least not until Snoke is in custody.” 

“What does that mean for us? For our jobs?” Rey asks quietly and Jessika shook her head slowly. 

“We think the best option for you is going into witness protection,” Jessika says and Ben groans, pushing his hair back and then running a hand over his face. 

“This cannot be happening to me.” He says and Rey laughs, he shoots her a look but he says nothing. 

“We will get you all processed and get your new identities in line tonight. You’ll have a U.S Marshall to help you along with the process, we know it can be scary and new.” 

“Do you know anything else? Where we might be going?” Rey asks and Jessika gives her a small smile. 

“Only that because of your work relationship and history, we’ve determined that it’s best if you go into protection with each other. Normally non-families are split up, but you are a special case.” Rey and Ben both stand up at the same time and start talking over each other, trying to get their word in. 

“But we hate each other!” 

“We will do nothing except fight, trust me.” 

“He is a fucking nightmare!” 

“She’s the most infuriating person on the planet!” 

“Woah, woah, woah. Nothing we can do about it, guys. It’s for your own safety. Anyway, arguing is a normal part of a new marriage.” Jessika smiles widely. Almost like this was funny to her. Rey did not appreciate it one bit. 

Ben and Rey both look at each other and scowl. How they were going to survive this, she did not know. 


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “She kept looking at Ben. He seemed to be in a similar headspace as her, maybe finally coming to terms that yes this was happening to them and that their lives were changing at an incredibly fast pace.”
> 
> Enjoy!!

The next few hours were a whirlwind of papers and strangers talking to her and taking her and Ben different places. A weird office where they met with someone who gave them mysterious manilla envelopes with their new identities, both of their apartments to get a small bag of clothing, and then finally: John F. Kennedy International Airport. 

They were dropped off in a taxi, with their meager belongings and boarding passes for a flight to Kansas City, Missouri. Halfway across the country they were having her move. She  _ knew  _ that Missouri wouldn’t have the things she loved about New York, the tall buildings, the rude people. Maybe she wouldn’t miss the city that much, but it was what she was familiar with. Her home for as long as she could remember. 

Ben didn’t speak most of the time when they were being carted around and given instructions. He seemed to be thinking deeply, like he did sometimes at the office. She would often find herself staring at his face when he had these phases. Rey herself, did not want to stop talking. The sun was rising by the time they reached the airport and the only reason she was awake at all was because the adrenaline rush she was experiencing was unlike anything in her life before. She was quiet to allow Ben time to sulk. Which was unlike her, but this whole thing was  _ crazy.  _ It would be selfish not to allow him to process it in his own way. 

They checked their small bags through security quickly and without upset. Once they were through, Rey purchased a variety of snacks from the shop while Ben only bought a shot of espresso from the small coffee shop there. Rey stuffed her small duffle full of chips, gummy worms, as well as an energy drink and a package of Red Vines. She had been on exactly one plane in her life, and she remembered the snacks were even worse in-flight. Best to be prepared. 

“You know, it’s barely a three hour flight to where we’re going.” Rey shoots her head up and looks at him, he looks tired. She assumes she does too. 

“A little longer than three hours, plus you have to factor in taxi time.” Rey goes back to arranging her bag. She places all the snacks in carefully, lying the ever ominous manilla folder on top. Apparently it contained everything she would need to know about her new life. Ben had a nearly identical one, but they were told not to open them until they got on the plane and in the air. Rey figured that Snoke was probably not actively searching for them, but she was still grateful for the people being quick and efficient with getting them out of the situation. She was more scared than she would actually admit to herself, let alone Ben, “Are you nervous?” She looks up at Ben again, and taps the folder tucked in her bag. 

He takes a long sigh as he glances down to what she is referring to, “I don’t have the mental capacity to feel anything except exhaustion right now.” 

She laughs at that and Ben seems surprised, but Rey thinks that she is so far past the point of tired that she honestly may never sleep again. They fell back into a companionable silence, which was not unlike what they were like at the office  _ most  _ of the time, until their flight started boarding. 

“ _ Flight 237 to Kansas City International Airport now boarding at gate seven. Flight 237 to Kansas City International Airport now boarding at gate seven. Thank you.” _

The two of them made the surprisingly long walk to the gate and boarded easily, scanning their boarding passes and walking down that long obnoxious hallway to the plane. Rey felt her stomach ball up and she felt like she might be sick. This was really happening. This was insane. She was starting to regret buying all of her snacks. 

She kept looking at Ben. He seemed to be in a similar headspace as her, maybe finally coming to terms that yes this was happening to them and that their lives were changing at an incredibly fast pace. 

  
They finally got settled in their seats and Rey took a deep breath. This plane was fancier than the one she flew on when she came to the US from London. The seats were almost private, with an insane amount of legroom and weird egg shaped hoods over the seats so that no one could see them while they sat. It seemed absurdly nice for what the government would provide, but Rey didn’t ask any questions. 

Rey snagged the window seat and Ben didn’t complain, just silently sat in the seat next to her. He kicked his chair up so that he could lean back, and when he closed his eyes Rey thought he looked just a bit younger that way. She hoped he wouldn’t sleep for long, they had to go through their folders together. She was simply itching to sort through her new identity. 

The plane took off and Rey watched out the window as the city grew smaller and smaller, until they were above the clouds. It was a surreal experience. Truly leaving the city for the first time since she arrived, and with Ben Solo of all people. 

Rey thinks she might have dozed off for a moment, but a small bout of turbulence woke her from a not-so-restless sleep. She looked over and saw Ben was still sleeping, his mouth hanging open slightly and his arm thrown over his face. She nudged him with her foot and he moved his arm up and cracked an eye open. 

“What?” He said, his voice deep with sleep and Rey held up her envelope with a small smile. 

“I think we have already started our descent. We still have an hour or so, but I figured we should go through these.” 

He let out a long yawn and sat his seat up slowly coming to a normal sitting position, “You’re right. Let’s get to it then.” Ben pulled a table out from where it was tucked in the side of the seat and unfolded it. Rey hopped up from her seat and dug around in the overhead bin, where she found Ben’s leather duffel bag and placed it on the table in front of him. He pulled out the folder and she quickly replaced the bag in the bin. The seatbelt sign was on, so she was moving quickly to avoid the gaze of an air steward. She returned to her own seat and pulled out the table and set her folder down, looking at Ben and taking a deep breath. 

They silently open the folders at the same time. Rey reads the first paper in the folder, which has her name and interests. The other things in the folder include a new birth certificate, drivers license, credit cards, among other things. 

“What’s your new name?” Ben whispers to her and she is pulled from her thoughts. 

“Kira Ren.” She said and gave him a look that he suggested he tell her his. 

“Kylo Ren.” He said and Rey immediately laughed loudly, “ _ What?”  _ Ben asked as she continued to laugh, giving her a stern look that only egged her on further. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just—“ she wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, “— it’s just this whole thing was so dramatic and like a movie. And then, and then they give you the name,” She takes another deep breath and tries to stifle her laughter, “ _ Kylo!”  _

“It’s not  _ that _ bad!” Ben retorts, but Rey can’t stop laughing. She was glad they had given him a ridiculous name. She needed this laughter more than anything right now. 

“Hey, if it makes you feel better Kira isn’t great either. Plus, we kinda match! Solidarity.” She said and stuck her fist out to bump his and he rolled his eyes. So much for comradery. Rey sat back in her seat and started reading more about ‘Kira.’ Her life was pretty similar to Rey’s, which was a relief. She didn’t have to pretend to be American which was nice. She had never really mastered the accent anyway. 

The plane landed soon after and took a ridiculous time taxiing to the exit. Ben had fallen back asleep in the short time, but Rey stayed awake looking at all her new documents. She hadn’t brought any of her old stuff, except for her ID to get on the plane. Which was a New York State non-driver's license. She wonders if it was a clerical error that she ended up with a Missouri state  _ driver’s  _ license considering she had never driven a car a day in her life, but would take it as a victory nonetheless. 

Rey nudged Ben awake again and he grunted as he retrieved his things and followed her to the exit of the plane when their time came. The Kansas City airport was much smaller than JFK, for obvious reasons. It took them about half the time to walk through the airport. 

“By the way, my envelope had this in it.” Ben holds up a car key that has the symbol for Honda on it. 

“They gave you the car key?  _ Sexist.”  _ Rey scoffed and Ben rolled his eyes again. 

“Anyway, they said the car is at the house. So we have to get a taxi to the address.” Ben explained and Rey expertly hailed a taxi, not that the driver was hard to convince. The airport didn’t have many flights coming in. They slipped in the backseat with their bags and Ben read the address to the driver, who set off. 

“Excelsior Springs?” Rey echoed as they started to drive, “Sounds like somewhere from a fairytale.” 

“Don’t get your hopes up, it’s basically rural Missouri. Think: corn fields.” Ben said and held his hands up like he was encouraging her to imagine the sight. 

Rey fell asleep on the taxi ride to the house and whenever Ben was shaking her awake, they were idle in a driveway. Ben handed the driver money and thanked him for the ride. Rey rubbed her eyes and shrugged her bag over her shoulder, stepping out of the taxi and onto a sloped drive.

She turned and looked at the house and her mouth dropped open, “This is a joke right?” She asked and Ben shrugged. 

“Don’t think so, this was the address on the paper.” He started walking up the driveway as the taxi pulled away, but Rey was glued to the spot. Taking in the massive house that stood in front of her. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, a home she had dreamed about as a child. 

There wasn’t a single skyscraper in sight. The house was one floor, but spread out. A two-car garage and a huge and well-manicured front lawn. Large windows dotted the front of the house and she could imagine how beautiful it would look on the inside with all the natural light flowing in. She realized that she had tears pricking in her eyes whenever Ben turned around and looked at her, shielding his eyes from the sun. 

“Let’s check it out!” Ben called back to her and she smiled widely. Rey forgot about nearly every argument that she and Ben had ever had whenever she followed him in the front door. She could live with  _ anyone  _ if it meant living here. 

They crossed the threshold and Rey gasped, the house was already furnished and every detail was beautiful. A large light grey sectional couch sat in the living room, with a fuzzy white blanket draped on one end that Rey would surely enjoy. There was a large coffee table that looked more like a stump of a tree, modern style paintings hanging on the wall and a blue carpet that looked like just about the softest thing ever. 

“Why does everything have to be so...white?” Ben mused and Rey laughed. 

“Okay, mister tall, dark and handsome. We all know that black is your favorite color, but this is  _ way  _ nicer than anything in the city we could afford.” Rey said swinging her arms around and gesturing to their new home. 

“I lived in a very nice penthouse apartment, thank you.” Ben quipped and Rey crossed her arms and frowned. 

“Fine. Nicer than anything I could afford on the salary you paid me.” She shot him a disappointed look and Ben ran a hand through his hair, something she had learned was definitely his nervous habit. 

“I don’t know why you have to bring that up, you never complained about your salary before.” He said, his voice teetering on the edge of frustration. 

“Yes, well now you are not my boss and you can’t fire me from being your fake wife,  _ Kylo.  _ So I’ll complain all I want.” She smirked at him, but his face was stuck in a deep frown. He could really not take a joke. 

Rey walked down the hallway of the house to look into the other rooms, she found an office that held a sleek computer and desk, along with a giant window, draped in dark grey curtains. A little further down, she found one door, leading to what she guessed was the bedroom.

She opened the door and found a beautifully furnished room. It looked comfortable and homey, the entire room filled with natural light and draped in white and gray colors much like the rest of the house. There was a large dresser with an even larger mirror attached to it and Rey looked at herself for the first time since she used the bathroom at the party last night. That seemed like a lifetime ago. Her hair was down now and draped around her shoulders in loose waves. It was a little greasy, but for the circumstances not too bad. She noticed the dark circles underneath her eyes and tried to rub them away to no avail. The bedroom was attached to a large master bathroom, with the most luxurious tub Rey had ever seen in her life. She walked back out into the room and sat on the bed, leaning back into the pillows and spreading her arms. She heard Ben walk into the room and clear his throat. 

“I call this room.” Rey says without looking up at him and snugs her arms under her and buries herself into the mattress. 

Ben took a deep breath and she imagined him running his hand through his hair, “Bad news. I don’t think there  _ is _ another room.” He said and Rey shot up to stare at him. 

“What do you mean there isn’t another room?” She snapped at him and he laughed at her. It wasn’t an actual laugh because he was humored, but it was laced in venom. She guessed he was back to the normal Ben Solo he had always been, throwing what little understanding they had gained for each other these past twelve hours down the drain. 

“It means exactly what you think, sweetheart,” He snapped right back, crossing his arms, “They want us to go all out on this newlywed thing.” He takes a few steps towards the bed, gripping the metal frame with his large hands. Rey stared at the veins in them for a long moment before looking up to his face. 

“I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you, asshole.” She said and stood up from her cozy spot on top of the covers. She took a few steps towards him until they were nearly toe to toe. She wanted to scream at him and slap him and also kiss him again. She  _ knew  _ that all this was scary and insane, but it wasn’t all her fault that she couldn’t stop thinking about his stupid lips. 

Ben grabbed her chin with his thumb and pointer finger, tilting her head up so that she was looking in his eyes, “It seems we are at an impasse, Rey. Because I am going to be sleeping in this bed. Whether you like it or not.” She tugs her head away from him and glances over at the bed. A traitorous thought enters her head of her and Ben fucking out all their anger on that mattress.  _ God damn it.  _ What had this man done to her? 

She looks back at him, her face in a deep scowl and notices Ben glances down at her lips. Only for a millisecond, but she sees him, “ _ Fuck you.”  _ She grits out and he smirks at her. 

“You would like that wouldn’t you --” She cuts him off by smashing her lips to his in an absolutely brutal kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, i’m evil what about it? 
> 
> ben and rey’s house!
> 
> follow me on twitter :)
> 
> my ko-fi! 


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